Author: Joseph Ellis
Plot:
Founding Brothers is a story of the earliest days of the American experiment in government from stories of a handful of key founders: Burr, Hamilton, Madison, Washington, Jefferson, and Adams. Beginning with the strife by politics (and guns) between Burr and Hamilton, Founding Brothers launches immediately into an intensely personal story of difficult politics like the slavery question.
Relationships in particular are portrayed by Ellis to have had a significant impact on the formation of the American republic. A large portion of the book discusses the interactions between the founders (an incredible degree of which was carried out by mail), and the deeply intimate relationship between Jefferson and Adams who were first friends and then mortal enemies. The conclusion of Founding Brothers hovers over this relationship and its healing, perhaps signalling metaphorically the happy conclusion of the earlier divides among the founders and the success of the American experiment.
Brian's Opinion:
The amazingly personal nature of Founding Brothers has kept me returning to this book over the years when I want a non-textbook-dry version of American history to read. Beautiful prose is a hallmark of this book, and all told it isn't hard to see why Ellis won a Pulitzer for this masterful piece. Speaking of which, it's about time I read it again!
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Relationships in particular are portrayed by Ellis to have had a significant impact on the formation of the American republic. A large portion of the book discusses the interactions between the founders (an incredible degree of which was carried out by mail), and the deeply intimate relationship between Jefferson and Adams who were first friends and then mortal enemies. The conclusion of Founding Brothers hovers over this relationship and its healing, perhaps signalling metaphorically the happy conclusion of the earlier divides among the founders and the success of the American experiment.
Brian's Opinion:
The amazingly personal nature of Founding Brothers has kept me returning to this book over the years when I want a non-textbook-dry version of American history to read. Beautiful prose is a hallmark of this book, and all told it isn't hard to see why Ellis won a Pulitzer for this masterful piece. Speaking of which, it's about time I read it again!
Read:
Public Library Finder
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Paperback
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